[Advaita-l] Grand Soma Yaga Athiratram in Bhadrachalam AP from 21 April to 02 May 2012

[V Subrahmanian]

While the Sringeri Jagadguru was in Bangalore recently, one day during the
night puja, I found a young man reciting many of the vedic portions along
with the others.  He was in office attire.  At the end I spoke to him to
tell him that it is not 'traditional' here to chant veda mantras attired in
non-traditional way.  He said he knew that and regretted his act but told
me that he had not come prepared as he did not know there would be vedic
chanting here.  He had accompanied his Veena guru who was performing during
the puja that day.  Later, upon my asking  he said he hailed from Kerala
(Iyer) and that he had learned the Veda at Ernakulam.  When I questioned
him as to how his chanting was so 'normal' while the Nambudiri style is
what he aught to have imbibed being in Kerala, he said that in Kerala too
there are veda pAThashalas where the 'normal' style is taught and that
Nambudiris had their own private style.

Just for information, the nambudiri style of Gayatri mantra chanting can be
heard in the G.V.Iyer's Sanskrit film on Shankaracharya.

subahmanian.v